Biography
Martina Ferracane is passionate about policymaking and technological innovation. She is an Assistant Professor at LUMSA, where she manages the Data Frontiers project (FIS-2024-05355). Martina is also a part-time Assistant Professor at the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, where she leads the Digital Trade Integration project, and she is a visiting fellow at LSE.
Martina’s research focuses on the regulatory issues connected to digital trade and data flows. Moreover, she is more broadly interested in digital transformation and ran a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the impact of digital fabrication classes on students' skills and interest in STEM subjects.
Martina founded and currently manages FabLab Western Sicily, a non-profit organisation which brings digital fabrication to Sicilian kids, and she was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 for her work with Oral3D, a start-up in 3D printing and dentistry. For her work in these areas, she was listed in 2018 among the 15 most influential Italian women on digital issues.
She regularly serves as a consultant to several institutions, including the United Nations, GIZ, the European Commission, the World Economic Forum, and the World Bank.
Before joining academia, she worked at the United Nations, the European Commission, and the Brussels-based think-tank ECIPE.
Academic experience
During her Ph.D. in Law & Economics at Hamburg University, she assessed restrictions on data flows from a trade policy perspective. In addition, she received a postdoctoral scholarship from Hamburg University to investigate creative pedagogy in the digital era. She then joined the European University Institute, first as a Max Weber Fellow and later as a Research Fellow, to continue her research on digital trade policy. In her academic career, she has been affiliated with the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute (Policy Leaders Fellow), the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University (Cyber Policy Fellow) and the California International Law Center (Research Fellow). Before joining LUMSA, she was an Associate Professor in International Digital Trade at Teesside University.
Expertise for Teaching
Martina has offered seminars and courses at various universities and institutions on digital trade, international political economy, data flows, and creative digital education. Her latest online course on digital trade regulation registered over 500 attendees from 80 countries.